Prevalence of IncFIB Plasmids Found among Salmonella enterica Serovar Schwarzengrund Isolates from Animal Sources in Taiwan Using Whole-Genome Sequencing

Abstract

Salmonella enterica serovar Schwarzengrund is one of the most frequently isolated Salmonella serotypes responsible for human and poultry infections in Taiwan, and it has raised public health concerns. To better facilitate the understanding of transmission patterns and the dynamics of epidemics, sharing molecular data on pathogen profiles is urgently needed. The objectives of the current study were to determine and establish baseline data of S. enterica serovar Schwarzengrund isolates from 23 epidemiologically unrelated sources from year 2000 to 2018 and examine their phenotypic and genotypic characteristics. Genomic DNA of the Salmonella isolates was extracted and subjected to whole-genome sequencing using an Illumina platform. Results showed that all selected isolates exhibited multidrug resistance, and six of those were resistant to ciprofloxacin phenotypically. Genotypically, these isolates carried genes resistant to aminoglycoside (100%), phenicol (91.3%), β-lactams (69.5%), folate pathway antagonist (100%), tetracycline (82.6%), and fluoroquinolone (4.3%). Moreover, these isolates harbor integrons with five different gene cassettes identified for the first time, which are associated with resistance to trimethoprim, streptomycin, tetracycline, sulfonamide, chloramphenicol, and gentamicin. Furthermore, prevalence of IncFIB plasmid was found among studied isolates, which may increase its ability to colonize the chicken cecum and cause extra-intestinal disease. Salmonella pathogenicity islands SPI-1 to SPI-5, SPI-13, and SPI-14, as well as C63PI locus, were also detected in all isolates. This study demonstrated that a considerable high antimicrobial resistance with high virulence levels of Salmonella were found from animal sources. Sharing data on these pathogen profiles can not only help increase the reproducibility and accessibility of genomic analysis but can also support surveillance and epidemiological investigations for salmonellosis in the region.